2009’s Ten most Notable Events in Canadian Land Development

Dec 29, 2009

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What a wild a crazy year the land development and real-estate industry has seen in Canada. The past year has seen a lot of highs and lows, mixed with confusion in the market place. Below is the Top 10 Most Notable Stories of 2009, as per BuzzBuzzHome..

1. Bazis’ One Bloor turns into Great Gulf’s Number One Bloor

The chunk of downtown Toronto some call the “Best Address in Canada” – 1 Bloor – got a new owner this year as Bazis International handed the deed over to Great Gulf Homes. Behind that transaction is a tale of legal stick handling seldom (if ever) seen in Canadian real estate. Check out some stories on this, here and here.

2. Condo kafuffle and the re-emergence of condo launch lineups in Toronto and Vancouver

From next-to-zero sales in January of 2009, to two week lineups in December 2009. X2 condos in Toronto to The Mark in Vancouver. WOW. Check out some stories on this here and here.

One of the biggest successes in the City of Toronto. Reve sold out 90% on opening day and left the industry stunned by its success with very little traditional advertising, and a sloth of online chitter-chatter! Everyone was talking about this project… online! Check out some stories on this, here, here and here.

8. Nine out of ten people start their real-estate search online, before contacting an agent

According a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors, 90 percent of new home buyers use the Internet before contacting an agent. Buyers also use other resources; however, they generally start the search process online and then contact an agent. Check out the story, here.

9. Google!!!

How cool is Google Street View? Heck, how cool is Google! This year Google released countless new tools and applications that are changing the landscape of the real-estate market. From Google Street View, to Google Wave, to Google’s Goggles.. and many more.. Check out some stories on this, here and here and this interesting story, here.

10. Condo Give Away

Rock 101 and Amacon Developments gave away a 1 bedroom & den condo (decked out with a $10,000 home theatre system, $5,000 Mac station, $4,000 barbecue and a Harley Davidson Nightster motorcycle) at District Condos, valued at over $350,000! Check out some stories on this, here and here.

This was also the year that BuzzBuzzHome launched, changing the way that people in Canada shop for their new condominiums, homes and townhomes, and the way that investors search for their new residential investments… But, then again, it would have been cheesy of me to add our own site to the list!